Genre research

In depth analysis of the Insidious film

Camerawork

The use of a first person camera as the female character walks into the room, as seen below, allows the audience to feel the suspense and tension she is feeling as she walks into the un expected and un habituated room following the noise she heard. This first hand view mean that the audience get to see what the character is seeing meaning they are living in the scary moment in the film, this is very conventional for a horror genre film such as Insidious. The image below shows this perspective.

Figure 1

During the trailer the director has used a low angle shot to show that the female character is scared about what she might find the other side of the door. This particular shot allows the audience to see that the rocking horse is moving but there was no one there. This shot establishes the fear of the unknown creature that is lurking within the house. The low angle shot shows the emotion of the women and her overall fear that she shows, meaning that the audience also have fear because of this. Also this shot makes the audience feel that the female is not the owner or overall power of the house through the use of this shot which is very typical to the genre of horror. The image below shows what had been explained.

Figure 2

Also at the start of the trailer where the man is sitting in his chair is very typical to the horror genre. The use of a zoom into his face allows for the look of emotion and fear within his face. This type of shot allows the audience straight from the start of the film to see that he is worried and scared about the scenario and situation before we see the rest of the trailer. A shot such as this is very conventional to the horror genre as it allows the audience to gage how much fear the character has. For the image below we can see the fear in his eyes and how much he dreads the rest of the day making the film start in a tense atmosphere before continuing on.

Figure 3

Mis-en-scene

The use of everyday clothes worn by the characters shows that they are in normal mode and are a happy family. This is very conventional to the genre because these types of films makes sure they show the most suspense to family therefore meaning all characters are in dismay when something bad happens on a an unexpected family such as this.
The use of a house means that the setting is in a general place and in a place that everyone is familiar with. Conventionally many horror movies are based and set in a house to show the use of similar products within the house. This particular setting is good as a horror setting because suspense and tension can be made by the turning off of the lights suddenly as seen in the film. Also the use of the house setting allows for the look of darkness around corners makes for tense viewing. The setting is a vital part of this trailer as it allows for the use of back lighting to show fear and horror both in the house in general and the characters to allow for the recognition of the horror genre.
Also the props used such as the clock at the start allows for suspense due to the 'tick tock' of the clock allows for the viewer to see that something bad will happen due to the conventional ticking that we see in many films to signify time running out. This means that the film is showing the suspense and the horror genre through the use of moving props such as the timer clock that is seen in the first shot.

Figure 4

Editing

The typography that features throughout the film trailer leads to the suspicion that this film is in fact a horror film. The cut up, bloody like font shows that the viewer is expected to feel fear due to the typography used as seen in figure one. The typography gives the viewer an insight into what is going to happen through the film and uses suspense to do this. The font appears in a moment of action through a fading in transaction. Also the way it uses special effects to move the typography in a scary way makes the film conventional as it always shows the horror genre it is trying to portray to the audience. The image below shows how realistic and conventional the typography is to the horror genre, but also it shows that the editing of the fonts have made this trailer very horror typical and tense.

Figure 5 

The film also uses cut shots to show the fast flowing action that is happening in the trailer. In this instance the cut shots from scene to scene are to show the fast paced, scary scenes to create tension within the trailer. We see that most shots within the trailer go from a happy scene and immediately cut to a scene where something out of the ordinary happens. This is conventional to the genre because many films make sure that the worse things in the film are fast and happen to a happy family. The use of the cut shots within the trailer also allows the audience to not really see too much and gain the fear that is shown therefore practically making the audience go and watch the film due to the fact that they want to see what happens due to the small, fast flowing frames that have been shown in the trailer.

Sound

The sound used within this trailer is very conventional to the horror genre which allows the trailer to be authentic. The non diagetic sound that is used allows the audience to build tension within the trailer. The tense music and the sound effects that are used shoes the audience that at any moment something can go wrong for this family. The use of the 'darf vader' type breathing noise in the film trailer shows the audience that the film is a horror film and allows for the terror for the audience. The non diagetic sound that is used allows the audience to hear sounds that can been seen as tense and suspicious  therefore being conventional to the genre.
The diagetic sounds in the trailer allows for the horror film trailer to show the genre in full swing, The swinging door, unusual sounds and the rocking horse squeaking makes the diagetic sound feel like they would not happen unless there was something happening in the film. The sounds we hear are suspicious which in tern allow for the suspense and tension to be built throughout the scene. The cut out from diagetic to non diagetic is fluid which therefore makes the scenes tense atmosphere flow and reinserts the horror genre into the audiences minds.

Genre and conventions

This film trailer is very conventional towards the genre it is trying to portray. As seen above the trailer has used mis-en-scene, camerawork, editing and sound to show the audience that this is in fact a horror film. The  use of the first person perspective camerawork is very typical to the genre as the film trailer is trying to portray that someone is scared and many films such as Sinister which is the same genre as this film has this perspective to show the scared horror look of the character. 

The genre of the film trailer is also shown within the house setting. Many horror films such as this use the house setting to show a normal family having bad things happen to them. This is conventional as many films have this and especially the horror genre films. 

This film trailer has used many elements to make it conventional within the horror grnre. The use of a scary, upbeat tempo music, the typical everyday use of clothes and a typical happy family along with the use of first camera shooting make this trailer very typical when it comes to the horror genre and conventions of form. 

Purpose of research

From this research I have been able to see what i will need to include in my horror film trailer to make it a success. The following items will need to be included:

• A everyday house and typical family
• A voiceover
• Uptempo, dramatic non diagetic sound
• Diagetic sound to create fear
• Fast, quick frame trailer
• Good typography
• Black lighting

To include all of these elements i will therefore be able to create a good, conventional horror movie trailer.

Creative analysis 

This research will help me to make a better horror trailer as i have understood what needs to in a trailer to make it a fundamental success and I will include them in my horror trailer. Items such as:

• Fast editing
• A variety of camera shots both professional standard and hand held effects
• The use of lighting needs to be dark to give the horror look
• The setting needs to be somewhere that the audience can relate to such as a school setting or a house. 

Still image analysis

Ancillary research

Task 1 - Research into Horror movie posters

Task 2 - Research into Horror magazine front covers

This research into different products will allow me to create a better film poster. I will include areas such as the ones below so i can be as conventional as possible and as authentic as possible to the genre of horror. In my film poster I will include:

• A bold main image
• A dark background
• large, stand out fonts
• The layout must be central 
• Entice the audience with first person words such as 'you'.

Summary research

Research of shot types within a trailer

 

INCIDIOUS 2 trailer

 

 



 



 

 

From this analysis of shot types from Incidious 2 I have ben able to learn a few thing when it comes to my production. I will, as seen in the movie trailer above, be doing the following to make my trailer conventional as this is:

 

•  To make shot roughly 3 seconds logn so the motion and the feelign of horror is portrayed
• A varied number of shot types however no zooming as this looks untidy
• A number of text section within the trailer to make it conventional and it splits the scenes up
• Dont make the trailer to long as its not the story
• Be careful of differnt lighting senarios
• The pace of the video must be quick to give the audience the right atmosphere 

 

By makign sure I have the following steps and points in my trailer means that I 3will create a good conventional trailer such as Incidious 2 has here.